Kevin Adell, the Detroit broadcaster who runs The Word Network, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 23, 2026, days after a federal jury in Detroit ordered him to pay $62.2 million to a Black pastor who had hosted a show on his network, Deadline Detroit reported.
The pastor, Bishop George Bloomer, is among Adell’s 20 largest creditors, who together hold claims of more than $101.8 million, according to the filing as Deadline Detroit described it. The Detroit News reported Thursday that the verdict and the bankruptcy have put the fate of Adell’s personal car collection in question, including the 1949 Buick Roadmaster from Rain Man and the Ferrari 250 GT California replica from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
The verdict and what the judge said before trial
Bloomer sued in October 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Bloomer v. The Word Network Operating Company, No. 2:22-cv-12433, naming the network, Church of the Word and Adell individually. After a five-day trial and one day of deliberation, WDIV reported, the jury found for Bloomer on race discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. It awarded $9.2 million in compensatory damages, $51 million in punitive damages and $2 million for unjust enrichment…